Manchester City roll into Craven Cottage tonight for a Premier League clash with Fulham, and both sides are buzzing after big weekend wins.
City have beaten Fulham 15 times in a row in the Premier League, the longest streak any team’s ever had over another in English league football but this isn’t the same shaky Fulham we saw at the start of the season. They’ve won three of their last four, and their only loss at Craven Cottage this season came against Arsenal.
I’m leaning Fulham’s way in the Double Chance market.
Bournemouth might be winless in their last four after a flying start, but I’m backing them to spark some early festive cheer on Tuesday night.
Yeah, the results haven’t been great lately, but the goals definitely haven’t dried up. And that’s bad news for an Everton defence that just leaked four at home to Newcastle on Saturday.
Moyes usually likes his teams to be tight and tidy on the road, but with only four clean sheets all season and just one away from home, that reputation’s starting to wobble.
This feels like the perfect fixture for Bournemouth to snap back into form.
My word, what were Spurs up to on the weekend??? And Vicario blowing up at the defence for his mistake entirely is something that could only happen when wearing a Tottenham jersey.
Thomas Frank said he believes in this team and they can turn it around, but I’m thinking otherwise.
Especially in the short term, anyway.
Newcastle just put four past Everton and are starting to find some league form. At home, I think $1.78 for the win is a reasonable price.
Brighton were impressive against Nottingham on the weekend, who seemed to be gaining some momentum. What’s more impressive is they’ve turned Amex Stadium into somewhat of a fortress, having yet to come out on the wrong end of an EPL fixture at home this season.
Aston Villa seem to have gotten over the early-season woes and are now flying with five wins in five games across all competitions.
Their away form, though, is still in the 50/50 with evenly split results across their six road games.
It’s hard to ignore the Seagulls’ home form as they’ve proven to be a tough beat on home turf.
Can Wolves finally get a win?
Not likely.
Nottingham Forest arrive at Molineux with a serious advantage over Wolves. They rank better than Wolves in almost every key metric this season (not that that’s hard to do…)
But more goals scored, more big chances created, more expected goals, and they are a better side on defence.
Wolves have two points in 13 games with just seven goals scored. They might add to that tally, but I don’t see them adding to the total of two points this season.
Arsenal have had a huge couple of games, and it’s been a real test for Arteta’s men. All in all, they’ve come out relatively unscathed and still sit at the top of the Premier League mountain.
Two wins and two draws for the Gunners in November, with the most recent being a top of the table clash which ended 1-1 at Stamford Bridge. The question is now that they host Brentford at the Emirates, can Arteta rotate some players, or will he keep the foot on the gas?
Brentford have been up and down all season. Winning one, then losing one and so on. They’re about middle of the pack but have struggled on the road.
Even if Arteta makes a few changes, this Arsenal side has proven they’ve got the depth to still win league games even with somewhat of a ‘B’ side.
Gyokeres is a chance to start midweek and get some minutes back into his legs. With the service Arsenal’s front men have been given recently, I’d back him to get himself into some form and onto the scoresheet.
After a nosedive in October, Leeds have now lost six of their last seven league games, and it feels like they’re in must-win mode already if they’re to avoid the drop.
There is still plenty of fight in Farke’s squad, though, and their spirited effort in their 3-2 loss to City on the weekend shows that.
Chelsea will be pleased with their one point against Arsenal, but it could have been much more delightful for the Blues. They just have to keep 11 men on the park.
If Leeds can channel their second half effort against City then they’ll have a chance here.
However, there’s a betcha boost that’s caught my eye. Joao Pedro to score and Chelsea to win paying $5.oo
Pedro has four Premier League goals this season and leads Enzo Maresca’s side for shots inside the box, big chances and expected goals and Leeds have conceded 2+ goals in seven of their last eight games, so expect plenty of chances to fall Chelsea’s way.
Liverpool finally got back to winning ways, and Isak scored his first goal for the club. An expensive one at that.
November was a month to forget for Slot and his side, but a new month, and they seemingly have found the right balance; they might have more to cheer about this festive season.
Sunderland and their never-say-die attitude has been a standout, and they’ve delivered some superb performances. Mostly at home though… they’re away form hasn’t been as spectacular.
Defensively, the Reds were solid against West Ham, a rarity for them this season. But if they have actually sorted it out, then they could be shutting the Black Cats out.
West Ham did the double over United last year, and heading into this fixture, they have the better form over the last five games.
What that doesn’t show, though, is that their success has only come at home, and they are actually on a four-game winless streak on the road.
In theory, this should be a routine win for Amorim’s men. They have been creating plenty of chances at home, but I’m basing this more on the fact that the Hammers look like a deer in headlights when on the road.